Gator Baseball 2024 OFFICIAL ROSTER/Transfer Tracker/Lineup???

My take, I still think Heyman is best overall player for the catcher spot because of his hitting and no one else has been outstanding behind the plate. By my eye Heyman makes the most consistent throws to second. Garrison is slower on the throw down and Donay bounces too many to the wrong side of second. They all will play but it just depends on who is pitching and who we are playing.

 

Blue dominated winning something like 10-1. It was getting cold and already 9-0 after 3 innings in so I lost track of the runs. Scrimmage starts in the 3rd and went 5 innings .Here's a rundown....

Orange in the field
P - Cags (101 mph)
C - Donay
1st - Shelnut
2nd - Kurland
SS - Shelton
3rd - Martinez
LF - unknown never batted
CF - Robertson
RF - Wilson

Top of 3rd - Blue at bat
Guy (50) - GO to SS
Thomas (1) - Walk 3-2 count
Heyman (28) - runner steals 2nd - Single up middle - 1 RBI
Yost - (16) - Single to RF runners at 1st/2nd
Garrison (26) - HR to RF - 3 RBI
Brookins (24) - Single
#### Inning called 4-0 Blue

Top of 4th #14 Cags Pitching
Albert (44) - GO 2nd
Mummau (5) - Double to LCF
50 - Double to LF - 1 RBI
1 - Runner takes 3rd - Sac Fly - 1 RBI
28 - FO
6-0 Blue

Top 5th #20 Clemente Pitching
16 - HR to RF
26 - Single
24 - Walk runners 1st/2nd
44 - HBP bases loaded potatoes
5 - Single to RF - 1 RBI
50 - HBP - 1 RBI
#### Inning called 9-0 Blue

6th - amazing #20 still pitching
1 - Walk
28 - fly ball to right turns into GO at 2nd - half the team couldn't see it including the runner at first
(funny part was Kurland playing second headed towards 2nd with the glove on his head unsure where the ball was coming down)
Special note - this was Clemente's first recorded out
16 - FO to deep CF
26 - Single runners at 1st/3rd
24 - K

7th - #27 Jameson pitching
44 - PO in foul territory
5 - K
50 - FO to LF

8th - #27 pitching
1 - Single to CF
28 - Walk runners at 1st/2nd
16 - K
26 - K
24 - Double - 1 RBI
44 - K

Game ended with Blue up 10-1. Garrison had the best bat today going 3 for 4 with a 3 run homerun and 2 singles. I'll post the Orange at bats and other notes after the basketball game.

 

And now for the Orange at bat, not much to say here.....

Blue in the field
P - Peterson (98 mph)
C - Heyman/Garrison
1st - Garrison/Heyman
2nd - Mummau
SS - Albert
3rd- Thomas
LF - Brookins
CF - Guy
RF - Yost

Bottom of 3rd - Orange at bat
Robertson (11) - PO
Kurland (4) - K
Cags (14) - K

Bottom 4th - Peterson #12 Pitching
Shelton (10) - GO
Shelnut (6) - FO
Donay (29) - K

Bottom 5th - #12 still pitching deservedly so
Martinez (23) - K
Wilson (30) - Walk & later caught stealing
11 - K
4 - runner out at second
Special note - Peterson in 3 innings with no hits allowed with 5 strikeouts

Bottom 6th - #34 Philpott in to pitch
4 - GO to 3rd
14 - GO to 3rd (great play by Thomas)
10 - GO to 1st

Bottom 7th - #22 Neely in to pitch
6 - GO to 3rd
29 - Single up the middle (first hit for Orange)
23 - K
30 - K

Bottom 8th - #22 pitching
11 - Single
4 - K
14 Single to RF runners at 1st/3rd
10 - GO to 2nd - 1 RBI
6 -K

Final 10-1 Blue

 

Notes....
Orange really had a bad day on the mound and at the plate as a team including Cags, Kurland, Shelton, Robertson, and Shelnut. They make up the bulk of our lineup. Still must credit the Blue with Peterson, Philpott, and Neely doing a great job on the mound and the Blue bats getting hot. Maybe Sully was restrictive in his pitch calling or had Orange batters working on some things with their bats, but Orange looked off all day long.

Evans was seen taking his turn in the batting cage but wore a black long-sleeve but did not throw or play. Yost is stepping up in his place with a single and a HR. He shows good speed in RF and at this point I'm penciling Yost in at RF until Evans proves me wrong.

Thomas looked better at 3rd and is showing some power in BP. Made a great play in the shift with Cags hitting a hard ground ball that Thomas made a highlight diving stop, a quick pop up throw to get Cags by a half step at 1st. Thomas deserves the 3rd base start. Martinez will be the backup at 3rd.

Heyman looked the best behind the plate, no passed balls, no wild pitches, and he threw out the only steal attempt on a pitch that bounced up into his glove. His hop and pop were well timed and he went for it even with a low pitch and made a nice throw to the runners side. The man covering (Mummau I think) had to step off for the throw and made a great tag as the runner was sliding past.

Cags and Donay both hit 3 HRs in BP that I saw. Might have been 1 or 2 more but it's hard to keep track when two baseballs are flying at once.

One oddity, Sully had Shelton batting behind Cags today. I guess it was because Heyman was on the opposite team. Normally Shelton bats between Kurland and Cags. Something to watch if it happens much again.

Speaking of Cags, he had a bad day once again on the mound. He wasn't walking everyone but he wasn't missing bats. Everyone knew they could sit back and wait on his fastball. If he keeps this up Sully might have to rethink his weekend rotation. In two innings, he gave up a HR, 2 doubles, 3 singles, a walk, a sacrifice fly, and only recorded 4 outs giving up 6 runs. It probably could have been worse than that. It's still early in the spring but this isn't the fall. He will probably have 4 more chances before the season at live action so let's see how it goes.

The biggest thing from today, Peterson is our best starting pitcher, period. Twice now in the spring he has impressed, after a very good fall. He was even challenging Cags today with a few fastballs in his first inning and struck him out. He is showing better control of his breaking ball. Peterson was consistently in the upper 90s and hit 98. The big point is, I'd take Peterson as my starter even before Fisher. Sully won't do that to start the year but it will be interesting to see if Peterson is given the spot later in the year if Fisher is inconsistent at all.

That's it for me and hope to be back out there some day before Sunday.

 

I agree with 77 that McNeillie is our best option for the midweeks. But I would post-reference that by saying the deeper into the season we go the more likely Sully uses McNeillie on weekends as well. Like last year, the last few midweeks became a hodgepodge of arms while Sully honed in our best 7 arms for post season play. McNeillie could end up like Fisher last year. It's way too early to start pontificating any comparisons like that but he might develop more than we think.

An arm that seems destined for mid game relief is Robert Satin. 77 commented yesterday he is a strike thrower and Sully is always looking for someone that will throw strikes. That said I am worried what SEC hitters will do against him but he can probably chew up a few innings here or there.

A few others here have commented on a few others coming along well and you ought to know, Ocala's next great Gator, Hunter Jones has been doing well. I'd put him on the radar for mid weeks and mid relief.

And don't forget there's always the hanging what if of Coppola. This conundrum at the Condron helps me recall an old song.....

 

Decided to put a working batting order on here so we can move around a few pieces as the season closes in. The first 5 or so spots are easy to pick for now. Its the back half of the order that will change as we approach opening day. Sully is still keeping Robertson in the leadoff position at scrimmage but, like last year, we'll have to wait and see how Mikey's numbers hold out once SEC play starts. This is presuming a game that Cags is on first and Heyman is catching. So for now using my lineup on the first page let's go with......

CF - Robertson (L)
2B - Kurland (R)
SS - Shelton (L)
1B - Caglianone (L)
C - Heyman (R)
LF - Shelnut (R)
RF - Yost (L)
DH - Donay (R)
3B - Thomas (R)

If Donay shows any sign of consistency I'm sure Sully will move him up. Right now for me, Brody is too big a strikeout risk or ground ball hitter to bat any higher. Yost has started off hot this spring and looks very capable of handling RF. As a LHH Sully will want Yost in the 7-8 spot to balance out the order. I think Sully would prefer Shelnut batting behind Heyman coming back with some consistency and he knows what to expect. Other possible candidates for the DH might be Evans (IR), Russell, Guy, or Garrison if his bat heats up.

 

Just what the song hint shows, pray. You are forgiven.
Nah, Sully made a comment that he is continuing in his throwing protocol and hopes to return before season's end. That doesn't give us much so few here are hopeful we see him this season.

 

Thanks for the support. Yes I also commented after last Friday's scrimmage how good the backup infielders looked taking infield practice. I feel they are a solid group if we need any one to step up. That's good info about their plate appearances. We are one week in and not enough time to see how they deal with different pitches once they show any weaknesses in game action. I agree though they seem to have put a lot of work in getting ready.